Infrastructure receives updates on roads, bikes projects

A hefty agenda awaited the Infrastructure Committee during a special Tuesday meeting at City Hall, including updates to planned Ridgecrest Boulevard construction, clearing the median on Downs Street at Bowman Avenue and several minor updates on pending projects.

The committee was shown an update of the proposed Richmond Road Bike Path, going east and west as a combined class one and class two bicycle paths.

A hefty agenda awaited the Infrastructure Committee during a special Tuesday meeting at City Hall, including updates to planned Ridgecrest Boulevard construction, clearing the median on Downs Street at Bowman Avenue and several minor updates on pending projects.

The committee was shown an update of the proposed Richmond Road Bike Path, going east and west as a combined class one and class two bicycle paths.

“A Class One is like the Bowman bike path now, separate from the road way,” Vice Mayor Jerry Taylor explained Thursday. “Class Two is like College Heights, which is next to the car lane, but is assigned only to bikes.”

The bike path is currently awaiting funding sources through KernCOG before work can begin.

“This is a project request to bike paths along both sides of Richmond Road because we don’t have the dedicated area for a separate two-way Class One bike path like the Bowman channel,” Taylor said.

“We have been working on improving the bicycle commuting and recreation capability of the area for a long time,” Taylor said.

The plan has been a major part of the 2009 Ridgecrest General Plan when Taylor chaired the Planning Commission.

“We want to circle Ridgecrest with a walking and biking path, some of which can be on county and Navy property,” he said.

The committee was also presented with a map of substandard streets like Bowman Road from China Lake Boulevard to Forest Knoll Street and Mahan Street between Springer and Upjohn avenues. Houses built on those streets require an additional $1,800 development fee to offset future maintenance.

“The extra fee along with other street dollars are used to properly pave the street someday, like we have on certain streets in Ridgecrest Heights,” Taylor said.

Substandard streets are defined by what the type of construction used to build a road, like using desert mix as a material.

“Basically the street was not constructed to normal standards,” Taylor said. “That is not a normally constructed road that requires x inches of asphalt over a base of y inches of compacted base.”

The committee entertained several possible solutions for the cleanup of the Downs-Bowman median.

According to Taylor the solutions ranged from cutting it all down with possible repayment to the state or federal government for the landscaping, to thinning the vegetation out, to no left turns for the side streets entering on to Downs.

The idea is set to return to either the committee or the council for further discussion.

The Ridgecrest Boulevard improvement plan received some brief discussion, which is still slated as project to begin in 2013.

Page 2 of 2 - The project moved beyond ones that have recently occurred around the city.

“A lot of utilities need to be lowered at their cost to allow the height of the road to be set properly,” Taylor said. “We will reestablish a curb and gutter system again throughout so normal rain water will flow. “

According to Taylor, the plan has been on the city’s books for more than four years. The project has a $13 million price tag.

“The initial work to determine utility depths, right-of-way issues and elevation was around $800,000, funded over three years by redevelopment money.